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Kiwis looked exceptionally poor in this game. I guess that comes from selecting players who usually play 30 or so minutes in NRL games. At least in League we are nigh unbeatable! 7 debutantes for the Kangaroos many of whom scored a try (or more).
Would love to see Folau, Inglis, Hayne or Stewart play the 15 man game.
Kangaroos romp to record victory
14/10/2007 3:48:19 PM
Dean Wedlake at Westpac Stadium
Sportal
A red-hot Kangaroos outfit has run riot with a record 58-0 annihilation of the hapless Kiwis in the Centenary Test at Westpac Stadium on Sunday.
The match involved a host of rookie internationals - 13 in fact - but it was the seven Australian debutants that found their first taste much sweeter as they made a big impact.
For the six Kiwis, along with coach Gary Kemble in his first Test in charge, it was a baptism of fire where a brittle defensive wall was smashed to pieces by the rampant visitors and the score threatened to match the number of years since international rugby league's beginnings in 1908.
Wing Israel Folau, the freshest face in Kangaroos history at only 18, started the dance of the debutants when he opened the scoring with a show of brute strength.
Palming off four defenders, including five eighth Ben Roberts twice, the NRL's Dally M Rookie of the Year dotted down in the 15th minute for the first four-pointer of what promises to be a long international career.
Prop Steve Price, elevated to the starting line-up in place of Brent Kite, then carved through more wafer-thin defence five minutes later as Australia raced away to a 12-0 lead.
Only dropped possession from five eighth Greg Bird and prop Petero Civoniceva over the Kiwis' line kept the scoreline from ballooning further.
The home side needed a shift in momentum, but what it got was the loss of centre Steve Matai after a brutal off-the-ball charge on opposite number Mark Gasnier.
Renowned as a player fond of the physicalities, Matai set his targets on Gasnier and, despite the ball being offloaded, clattered him with a late shoulder and referee Steve Ganson had no hesitation in sending him from the field. The Kangaroos were also resigned to losing Gasnier as he was stretchered off in a very sick state.
While Matai was possibly looking to galvanise his side with a show of force, it backfired as the slick Australians pulled together and ran in three quick tries to lead 26-0 at the break.
Centre Greg Inglis exposed a stretch in defensive resources to score in the left corner, halfback Cooper Cronk put on a pinpoint cross kick for Folau - a move seen countless times at Melbourne's Olympic Park this season - before wing Jarryd Hayne followed his childhood friend across the chalk to become the afternoon's second try-scorer on debut.
It's hard to imagine what Kemble could have said to his shell-shocked charges in the halftime sheds, but whatever it was, it did not bring a change in fortunes as the Kangaroos continued their dominance on resumption.
Inglis crossed again to match his grand final double eight minutes after the break, before a passing chain went along the left through Cronk, Hayne and finally onto fullback Brett Stewart for his first try in the green and gold jumper.
Perhaps the try of the match followed with the Kangaroos' eighth as they rampaged up the field through several pairs of hands, showing a real sense of cohesiveness before Bird cut back on the angle to score a well-deserved try.
That was followed by the softest four-pointer of the contest when replacement back rower Michael Crocker ran through an acre of space around the ruck area then offloaded to Inglis, who swatted off feeble efforts from two demoralised Kiwi defenders before running 30m to push the score out to 46-0.
Further pain was to follow, although a fair part of the 16,681 spectators had left the ground in disgust before Willie Mason dotted down in the 70th minute for a try that equalled the highest margin between the two sides.
The record, and perhaps the spirits of the Kiwis going into their upcoming four-Test series against Great Britain and France, was finally broken when hooker Cameron Smith took a Sunday stroll from dummy half and dotted down near the posts.
Kangaroos 58
Tries: Folau (2), Inglis (3), Price, Hayne, Stewart, Bird, Mason, Smith
Conversions: Smith (7)
Kiwis 0
HT: 26-0
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Originally Posted by chook
"Remember lads, rugby is a team game; all 14 of you make sure you pass the ball to Giteau." 
